Maryland bus driver faces reinstatement calls after kitten rescue

Cynthia Morgan, a bus driver with 11 years of service for Harford County Public Schools, was dismissed following an incident where she allowed a student to rescue an injured kitten from a rural road.

During the route, 10-year-old Alex Thomas, the sole passenger on the bus, spotted the animal on Heaps School Road. Morgan stopped the vehicle to allow the student to retrieve the kitten. While the student was not in immediate danger, school policy prohibits letting students off the bus for reasons other than scheduled drop-offs.

Following her dismissal, a petition on Change.org has gathered over 10,200 signatures calling for her reinstatement. The animal rights organization PETA has also joined the effort, urging the Harford County Board of Education to reverse the decision. PETA stated that schools should nurture compassion rather than punish it, arguing that Morgan modeled the values schools aim to instill in students.